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Industry-Wide Smartphone "Kill Switch" Closer To Reality

Posted by samzenpus on from the blow-it-up dept.

mpicpp (3454017) writes "The 'kill switch,' a system for remotely disabling smartphones and wiping their data, will become standard in 2015, according to a pledge backed by most of the mobile world's major players. Apple, Google, Samsung and Microsoft, along with the five biggest cellular carriers in the United States, are among those that have signed on to a voluntary program announced Tuesday by the industry's largest trade group. All smartphones manufactured for sale in the United States after July 2015 must have the technology, according to the program from CTIA. Advocates say the feature would deter thieves from taking mobile devices by rendering phones useless while allowing people to protect personal information if their phone is lost or stolen. Its proponents include law enforcement officials concerned about the rising problem of smartphone theft."

12 of 139 comments (clear)

  1. Yay for government!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Now they won't need to backdoor devices when they want to erase evidence.

    1. Re:Yay for government!!! by Tuidjy · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I wonder how easy it will be for someone unauthorized to force a cellphone off the air. And how easy it will be to get someone authorized to do it through social engineering.

      I just hope that however they implement it, they make sure that emergency calls can still be made.

      --
      No good deed goes unpunished...
    2. Re:Yay for government!!! by Frobnicator · · Score: 5, Informative

      The carriers already can (and do) block stolen phones. Each phone has a unique IMEI number, in addition to the SIM card number.

      The carriers are already required to do this in some countries, and do it voluntarily in other countries. They just don't do it in the US.

      IMEI blacklists are common in many countries, including the UK. When a device is stolen the IMEI number is put on the list and carriers reject the device and (potentially) notify investigators.

      --
      //TODO: Think of witty sig statement
    3. Re:Yay for government!!! by lgw · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Just watch for the first riot in 2016 under some authoritarian government. They'll "kill" all the cellphones of all the rioters to prevent organization and photography of police, not even a question about it.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    4. Re:Yay for government!!! by Lumpy · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It is a royal pain in the ass to get a IMEI blacklisted. I had to fight AT&T even though I sent them the police report and the phone was in their records as my property.
      "But it's currently activated" Yes, by the thief, blacklist it.
      "but that is one of our gophone customers", Yes the thief blacklist it.
      "but but....." Do I need to get a lawyer involved?
      "One moment please...."

      99% will not force them to blacklist the phone but just let it go. To hell with who they sold the phone to, I was not going to stop until the phone was forever disabled from being a phone.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    5. Re:Yay for government!!! by error_logic · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This right here. It's one thing to be disconnected from a network, and quite another to have your system/data wiped selectively.

  2. Industry-Wide, Hacker Triggers Phone Kill Switch by Kremmy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    One step closer to reality.

  3. Re:Bad, Bad idea by timeOday · · Score: 4, Insightful
    What you describe is probably exactly how the kill switch will be implemented. (How else would it be implemented?)

    All the hyperbole in here is silly. Try not paying your phone bill and you will discover there is already a "kill switch." The questions at issue are administrative - how to share the list of stolen phones between carriers, set the criteria for putting a phone on the list, etc.

  4. You can bet NSA has the keys by Darth+Muffin · · Score: 4, Interesting
    The NSA is why this is a bad idea. Once this is in, I'll bet you'll start seeing this used by the govt. First at Boston Bombing type events, then later at demonstrations like Occupy Wallstreet, and then wherever the president happens to be touring at the moment.

    What would the govt of some place like Egypt have given for a phone kill switch?

    --
    Real programmers use "copy con program.exe"
  5. That would stop all those police brutality videos by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "and wiping their data"... Yes, I can understand why police would want the ability to remotely wipe the data - data would include all those "awkward" videos of police that keep getting on youtube. Back to the pre-Rodney King days where it was just the upstanding policeman's word against the nefarious 'criminal' trying to slander him.

    We can't have the citizens able to record the police now, can we?
    besides, the police can monitor themselves
    http://yro.slashdot.org/story/14/04/09/1545251/la-police-officers-suspected-of-tampering-with-their-monitoring-systems

  6. Its only okay if I am the one that has the switch by Karmashock · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If the government or the phone company has it, then it is not okay.

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  7. I RTFA.... by ABadDog · · Score: 4, Informative

    From my interpretation of what's actually in the CITA program, this is no different than what's currently available in Apple's Find My iPhone capability. Allow the user to remotely lock (i.e. set a PIN) or wipe a device, and remove the pin and/or /restore the device if it's recovered.

    It seems to me that all the armchair conspiracy theorists here are over-reacting.